FRI represents 61 coastal employers. The talks were held after a 98.7 per cent vote against FRI’s latest proposal and a one-day walkout last week.

The latest proposal was for a three-year deal which would include a wage increase of one per cent for each of the first two years and a $6-million contribution to workers’ pension plans. However, the proposal called for concessions on travel time and overtime. Haggard said the proposal was "horseshit."

“To say I am disappointed would be an understatement,” Haggard told local media. “I thought when they asked us to come back to a meeting on Remembrance Day, they had something significant. But obviously they are trying to come back to the table with what I consider to be a death knell for our union membership, and I find that offensive. We have told them that we want to go away and study their concessions. It will probably take us a couple of weeks to put a response to that crap together, but we’ll do it as quickly as possible and we’ll give them a counter-proposal.”

FRI spokesman Scott Alexander says producers need to reduce labour costs by 20-30 per cent due mainly to the dispute with the U.S. over softwood lumber.

Workers have been in a legal strike position since September, but Haggard insists there are no plans for a widespread strike in the immediate future.

“We may have some crew get mad and walk off, but that doesn’t mean we’ll have a province-wide strike,” he told local media.

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